Averroës, medieval Latin Averrhoës, also called Ibn Rushd, Arabic in full Abū al-Walīd Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Rushd, (born 1126, Córdoba [Spain]—died 1198, Marrakech, Almohad empire [now in Morocco]), influential Islamic religious philosopher who integrated Islamic traditions with ancient Greek thought. At the request of the Almohad caliph Abu Yaʿqub Yusuf, he produced a series of summaries and commentaries on most of Aristotle’s works (1169–95) and on Plato’sRepublic, which exerted considerable influence in both the Islamic world and Europe for centuries. He wrote the Decisive Treatise on the Agreement Between Religious Law and Philosophy (Faṣl al-Maḳāl), Examination of the Methods of Proof Concerning the Doctrines of Religion (Kashf al-Manāhij), and The Incoherence of the Incoherence (Tahāfut al-Tahāfut), all in defense of the philosophical study of religion against the theologians (1179–80).

Early life

Averroës was born into a distinguished family of jurists at Córdoba and died at Marrakech, the North African capital of the Almohad dynasty. Thoroughly versed in the traditional Muslim sciences (especially exegesis of the Qurʾān—Islamic scripture—and Ḥadīth, or Traditions, and fiqh, or Law), trained in medicine, and accomplished in philosophy, Averroës rose to be chief qādī (judge) of Córdoba, an office also held by his grandfather (of the same name) under the Almoravids. After the death of the philosopher Ibn Ṭufayl, Averroës succeeded him as personal physician to the caliphs Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf in 1182 and his son Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb in 1184.

At some point between 1153 and 1169, Ibn Ṭufayl had introduced Averroës to Abū Yaʿqūb, who, himself a keen student of philosophy, frightened Averroës with a question concerning whether the heavens were created or not. The caliph answered the question himself, put Averroës at ease, and sent him away with precious gifts after a long conversation that proved decisive for Averroës’ career. Soon afterward Averroës received the ruler’s request to provide a badly needed correct interpretation of the philosophy of the Greek philosopher Aristotle, a task to which he devoted many years of his busy life as judge, beginning at Sevilla (Seville) and continuing at Córdoba. The exact year of his appointment as chief qādī of Córdoba, one of the key posts in the government (and not confined to the administration of justice), is not known.

Commentaries on Aristotle

Between 1169 and 1195 Averroës wrote a series of commentaries on most of Aristotle’s works (e.g., The Organon, De anima, Physica, Metaphysica, De partibus animalium, Parva naturalia, Meteorologica, Rhetorica, Poetica, and the Nicomachean Ethics). He wrote summaries, and middle and long commentaries—often two or all three kinds on the same work. Aristotle’s Politica was inaccessible to Averroës; therefore he wrote a commentary on Plato’s Republic (which is both a paraphrase and a middle commentary in form). All of Averroës’ commentaries are incorporated in the Latin version of Aristotle’s complete works. They are extant in the Arabic original or Hebrew translations or both, and some of these translations serve in place of the presumably lost Arabic originals; e.g., the important commentaries on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and on Plato’s Republic.

Averroës.Wellcome Collection CC BY 4.0 (image no. axvxwx8s)

Averroës’ commentaries exerted considerable influence on Jews and Christians in the following centuries. His clear, penetrating mind enabled him to present competently Aristotle’s thought and to add considerably to its understanding. He ably and critically used the classical commentators Themistius and Alexander of Aphrodisias and the falāsifah (Muslim philosophers) al-Fārābī, Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā), and his own countryman Avempace (Ibn Bājjah). In commenting on Aristotle’s treatises on the natural sciences, Averroës showed considerable power of observation.

Averroës’ defense of philosophy

Averroës’ own first work is General Medicine (Kulliyāt, Latin Colliget), written between 1162 and 1169. Only a few of his legal writings and none of his theological writings are preserved. Undoubtedly his most important writings are three closely connected religious-philosophical polemical treatises, composed in the years 1179 and 1180: the Faṣl al-Maḳāl with its appendix; the Kashf al-Manāhij; and the Tahāfut al-Tahāfut in defense of philosophy. In the two first named Averroës stakes a bold claim: only the metaphysician employing certain proof (syllogism) is capable and competent (as well as obliged) to interpret the doctrines contained in the prophetically revealed law (Sharʿ or Sharīʿah), and not the Muslim mutakallimūn (dialectic theologians), who rely on dialectical arguments. To establish the true, inner meaning of religious beliefs and convictions is the aim of philosophy in its quest for truth. This inner meaning must not be divulged to the masses, who must accept the plain, external meaning of Scripture contained in stories, similes, and metaphors. Averroës applied Aristotle’s three arguments (demonstrative, dialectical, and persuasive—i.e., rhetorical and poetical) to the philosophers, the theologians, and the masses. The third work is devoted to a defense of philosophy against his predecessor al-Ghazālī’s telling attack directed against Avicenna and al-Qārābī in particular. Spirited and successful as Averroës’ defense was, it could not restore philosophy to its former position, quite apart from the fact that the atmosphere in Muslim Spain and North Africa was most unfavourable to the unhindered pursuit of speculation. As a result of the reforming activity of Ibn Tūmart (c. 1078–1130), aimed at restoring pure monotheism, power was wrested from the ruling Almoravids, and the new Berber dynasty of the Almohads was founded, under whom Averroës served. In jurisprudence the emphasis then shifted from the practical application of Muslim law by appeal to previous authority to an equal stress on the study of its principles and the revival of independent legal decision on the basis of Ibn Tūmart’s teaching. Of perhaps even more far-reaching significance was Ibn Tūmart’s idea of instructing the heretofore ignorant masses in the plain meaning of the Sharīʿah so that practice would be informed with knowledge. These developments were accompanied by the encouragement of the falāsifah—“those who,” according to Averroës’ Faṣl, “follow the way of speculation and are eager for a knowledge of the truth”—to apply demonstrative arguments to the interpretation of the theoretical teaching of the Sharīʿah. But with the hands of both jurists and theologians thus strengthened, Averroës’ defense of philosophy continued to be conducted within an unfavourable atmosphere.

Averroës himself acknowledged the support of Abū Yaʿqūb, to whom he dedicated his Commentary on Plato’s Republic. Yet Averroës pursued his philosophical quest in the face of strong opposition from the mutakallimūn, who, together with the jurists, occupied a position of eminence and of great influence over the fanatical masses. This may explain why he suddenly fell from grace when Abū Yūsuf—on the occasion of a jihad (holy war) against Christian Spain—dismissed him from high office and banished him to Lucena in 1195. To appease the theologians in this way at a time when the caliph needed the undivided loyalty and support of the people seems a more convincing reason than what the Arabic sources tell us (attacks on Averroës by the mob, probably at the instigation of jurists and theologians). But Averroës’ disgrace was only short-lived—though long enough to cause him acute suffering—since the caliph recalled Averroës to his presence after his return to Marrakech. After his death, Averroës was first buried at Marrakech, and later his body was transferred to the family tomb at Córdoba.

It is not rare in the history of Islam that the rulers’ private attachment to philosophy and their friendship with philosophers goes hand in hand with official disapproval of philosophy and persecution of its adherents, accompanied by the burning of their philosophical writings and the prohibition of the study of secular sciences other than those required for the observance of the religious law. Without caliphal encouragement Averroës could hardly have persisted all his life in his fight for philosophy against the theologians, as reflected in his Commentary on Plato’s Republic, in such works as the Faṣl al-Maḳāl and Tahāfut al-Tahāfut, and in original philosophical treatises (e.g., about the union of the active intellect with the human intellect). It is likely that the gradual estrangement of his two masters and patrons from Ibn Tūmart’s theology and their preoccupation with Islamic law also helped him. That Averroës found it difficult to pursue his philosophical studies alongside the conscientious performance of his official duties he himself reveals in a few remarks scattered over his commentaries; e.g., in that on Aristotle’s De partibus animalium.

Contents and significance of works

To arrive at a balanced appraisal of Averroës’ thought it is essential to view his literary work as a whole. In particular, a comparison of his religious-philosophical treatises with his Commentary on Plato’s Republic shows the basic unity of his attitude to the Sharīʿah dictated by Islam and therefore determining his attitude to philosophy, more precisely to the nomos, the law of Plato’s philosopher-king. It will then become apparent that there is only one truth for Averroës, that of the religious law, which is the same truth that the metaphysician is seeking. The theory of the double truth was definitely not formulated by Averroës, but rather by the Latin Averroists. Nor is it justifiable to say that philosophy is for the metaphysician what religion is for the masses. Averroës stated explicitly and unequivocally that religion is for all three classes; that the contents of the Sharīʿah are the whole and only truth for all believers; and that religion’s teachings about reward and punishment and the hereafter must be accepted in their plain meaning by the elite no less than by the masses. The philosopher must choose the best religion, which, for a Muslim, is Islam as preached by Muḥammad, the last of the prophets, just as Christianity was the best religion at the time of Jesus, and Judaism at the time of Moses.

It is significant that Averroës could say in his Commentary on Plato’s Republic that religious law and philosophy have the same aim and in the Faṣl that “philosophy is the companion and foster-sister of the Sharīʿah.” Accepting Aristotle’s division of philosophy into theoretical (physics and metaphysics) and practical (ethics and politics), he finds that the Sharīʿah teaches both to perfection: abstract knowledge commanded as the perception of God, and practice—the ethical virtues the law enjoins (Commentary on Plato’s Republic). In the Tahāfut he maintains that “the religious laws conform to the truth and impart a knowledge of those actions by which the happiness of the whole creation is guaranteed.” There is no reason to question the sincerity of Averroës. These statements reflect the same attitude to law and the same emphasis on happiness. Happiness as the highest good is the aim of political science. As a Muslim, Averroës insists on the attainment of happiness in this and the next life by all believers. This is, however, qualified by Averroës as the disciple of Plato: the highest intellectual perfection is reserved for the metaphysician, as in Plato’s ideal state. But the Muslim’s ideal state provides for the happiness of the masses as well because of its prophetically revealed law, which is superior to the Greek nomos (law) for this reason. The philosopher Averroës distinguishes between degrees of happiness and assigns every believer the happiness that corresponds to his intellectual capacity. He takes Plato to task for his neglect of the third estate because Averroës believes that everyone is entitled to his share of happiness. Only the Sharīʿah of Islam cares for all believers. It legitimates speculation because it demands that the believer should know God. This knowledge is accessible to the naive believer in metaphors, the inner meaning of which is intelligible only to the metaphysician with the help of demonstration. On this point all falāsifah are agreed, and all recognize the excellence of the Sharīʿah stemming from its divinely revealed character. But only Averroës insists on its superiority over the nomos.

Insisting on the prerogative of the metaphysician—understood as a duty laid upon him by God—to interpret the doctrines of religion in the form of right beliefs and convictions (like Plato’s philosopher-king), Averroës admits that the Sharīʿah contains teachings that surpass human understanding but that must be accepted by all believers because they contain divinely revealed truths. The philosopher is definitely bound by the religious law just as much as the masses and the theologians, who occupy a position somewhere in between. In his search for truth the metaphysician is bound by Arabic usage, as is the jurist in his legal interpretations, though the jurist uses subjective reasoning only, in contrast to the metaphysician’s certain proof. This means that the philosopher is not bound to accept what is contradicted by demonstration. He can, thus, abandon belief in the creation out of nothing since Aristotle demonstrated the eternity of matter. Hence creation is a continuing process. Averroës sought justification for such an attitude in the fact that a Muslim is bound only by consensus (ijmāʿ) of the learned in a strictly legal context where actual laws and regulations are concerned. Yet, since there is no consensus on certain theoretical statements, such as creation, he is not bound to conform. Similarly, anthropomorphism is unacceptable, and metaphorical interpretation of those passages in Scripture that describe God in bodily terms is necessary. And the question whether God knows only the universals, but not the particulars, is neatly parried by Averroës in his statement that God has knowledge of particulars but that his knowledge is different from human knowledge. These few examples suffice to indicate that ambiguities and inconsistencies are not absent in Averroës’ statements.

The Commentary on Plato’s Republic reveals a side of Averroës that is not to be found in his other commentaries. While he carried on a long tradition of attempted synthesis between religious law and Greek philosophy, he went beyond his predecessors in spite of large-scale dependence upon them. He made Plato’s political philosophy, modified by Aristotle, his own and considered it valid for the Islamic state as well. Consequently, he applied Platonic ideas to the contemporary Almoravid and Almohad states in a sustained critique in Platonic terms, convinced that if the philosopher cannot rule, he must try to influence policy in the direction of the ideal state. For Plato’s ideal state is the best after the ideal state of Islam based on and centred in the Sharīʿah as the ideal constitution. Thus, he regrets the position of women in Islam compared with their civic equality in Plato’s Republic. That women are used only for childbearing and the rearing of offspring is detrimental to the economy and responsible for the poverty of the state. This is most unorthodox.

Of greater importance is his acceptance of Plato’s idea of the transformation and deterioration of the ideal, perfect state into the four imperfect states. Muʿāwiyah I, who in Muslim tradition perverted the ideal state of the first four caliphs into a dynastic power state, is viewed by Averroës in the Platonic sense as having turned the ideal state into a timocracy—a government based on love of honour. Similarly, the Almoravid and Almohad states are shown to have deteriorated from a state that resembled the original perfect Sharīʿah state into timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny. Averroës here combines Islamic notions with Platonic concepts. In the same vein he likens the false philosophers of his time, and especially the mutakallimūn, to Plato’s sophists. In declaring them a real danger to the purity of Islam and to the security of the state, he appeals to the ruling power to forbid dialectical theologians to explain their beliefs and convictions to the masses, thus confusing them and causing heresy, schism, and unbelief. The study of The Republic and the Nicomachean Ethics enabled the falāsifah to see more clearly the political character and content of the Sharīʿah in the context of the classical Muslim theory of the religious and political unity of Islam.

Leaning heavily on the treatment of Plato’s political philosophy by al-Fārābī, a 10th-century philosopher, Averroës looks at The Republic with the eyes of Aristotle, whose Nicomachean Ethicsconstitutes for Averroës the first, theoretical part of political science. He is, therefore, only interested in Plato’s theoretical statements. Thus he concentrates on a detailed commentary on Books II–IX of The Republic and ignores Plato’s dialectical statements and especially his tales and myths, principally the myth of Er. He explains Plato, whose Laws and Politikos he also knows and uses, with the help, and in the light, of Aristotle’s Analytica posteriora, De anima, Physica, and Nicomachean Ethics. Naturally, Greek pagan ideas and institutions are replaced by Islamic ones. Thus Plato’s criticism of poetry (Homer) is applied to Arab pre-Islamic poetry, which he condemns.

Averroës sees much common ground between the Sharīʿah and Plato’s general laws (interpreted with the help of Aristotle), notwithstanding his conviction that the Sharīʿah is superior to the nomos. He accepts al-Fārābī’s equation of Plato’s philosopher-king with the Islamic imam, or leader and lawgiver, but leaves it open whether the ideal ruler must also be a prophet. The reason for this may well be that, as a sincere Muslim, Averroës holds that Muḥammad was “the seal of the prophets” who promulgated the divinely revealed Sharīʿah once and for all. Moreover, Averroës exempts Muḥammad from the general run of prophets, thus clearly rejecting the psychological explanation of prophecy through the theory of emanation adopted by the other falāsifah. No trace of this theory can be discovered in Averroës’ writings, just as his theory of the intellect is strictly and purely Aristotelian and free from the theory of emanation. In conclusion, it may be reiterated that the unity of outlook in Averroës’ religious-philosophical writings and his commentary on The Republic gives his political philosophy a distinctly Islamic character and tone, thereby adding to his significance as a religious philosopher.